FLEXIBLE friend Eunan O’Kane revealed he would relish the opportunity to orchestrate Cherries’ midfield from deep on a more permanent basis.

The 23-year-old’s attacking instincts were sacrificed at Reading a week ago when boss Eddie Howe deployed the former Torquay man as the single sitting midfielder in front of a back four.

But far from being frustrated over his patrolling position, O’Kane recalled playing the role during his development at Everton and insisted the subtle switch would help him to govern games from less obvious areas.

O’Kane told the Daily Echo: “It’s a role not many people have seen me play for Bournemouth and it’s definitely a different side to my game.

“But I am used to it having played there for the Everton’s youth team and the manager always encourages us to try out different positions in training and add different things to our game.

“Managers usually see me as a more attacking and adventurous player but I feel quite comfortable being back there and, hopefully, if the manager needs someone to play there then my name will be in the hat for it.

“I hadn’t played there for quite a while but it suits the kind of player I am. I like to get on the ball, dictate things and control the speed of the game.

“Hopefully, I can do more of that for Bournemouth in the future because I really enjoyed it.

“With the attacking options we have, it is a good role to play because you always have plenty of people wanting the ball.”